UNDP in Viet Nam

Poverty Situation Analysis Of Ethnic Minorities in Vietnam 2007-2012

04 Dec 2013

Key Findings from Quantitative Study

Vietnam has achieved remarkable results in poverty reduction but the progress of poverty reduction varies greatly among different ethnic groups. Some research studies have shown that economic growth and poverty reduction have not obtained significant success for a number of ethnic minority groups. Ethnic minority households face huge obstacle in access to important resources such as education, capital, market and agricultural land (The World Bank, 2009 and 2012). There is a substantial variation in poverty rate among different ethnic minority groups. IRC (2012) finds that certain ethnic minority groups in P135 such as Mong and Nung experienced huge progress in poverty reduction effort during the period 2007-2012. Whereas, other groups such as Thai and Muong seemed to lag behind in the poverty reduction progress.

This study aims to answer the following questions: how have the standards of living of the ethnic minorities changed during the period 2007-2012? Which group is the most successful in poverty reduction and which is the least successful group during the same period? What are the reasons for the success and failure of the two ethnic minority groups? The research outcomes serve as instrumental input for policy dialogue and recommendation for designing upcoming poverty reduction programs and policies for the ethnic minorities.